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79% of Singapore employers don't expect to hire in Q3

Amidst the economic slowdown, hiring intentions in Singapore for the third quarter of 2016 are expected to be moderate at best.

According to the Q3 2016 Manpower Employment Outlook Survey (MEOS), of the 647 employers in Singapore surveyed, only 11% of employers are planning to increase headcount.

Almost eight in ten are planning to maintain their workforce size while 1% expect a decrease in staffing levels.

Overall, the lion city's net employment outlook stands at a modest +9%, a decrease of one percentage point from Q2 2016 and by four percentage points year-on-year. This makes Q3 2016's employment outlook the weakest forecast reported since Q3 2009.

Linda Teo, country manager of ManpowerGroup Singapore said: "Even though we may not be in a recessionary mode, the employment sentiment certainly isn’t as positive as it has been in the past. In fact, the third-quarter results are the weakest reported since we started to emerge from the last global financial crisis."

"However, more than three-quarters of the employers we surveyed told us they planned to keep their current workforces intact during the July-September time frame. Employers are clearly sensing more uncertainty in the business environment, but most of them appear to be waiting for clearer signs in the market place before they engage in further personnel decisions."

Referring to the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) Macroeconomic Review report published in April, she added: "Our numbers confirm what MAS had indicated about a protracted period of modest growth in the quarters ahead."

"The (MAS) report said that the nation will face slower economic growth given that its trade-related industries are impacted by sluggish economies of its trading partners such as the United States and Japan," the press release stated.

SG MEOS Q3 2016 global

 

Image: 123RF

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